Fashion Fair’s new owners talk about rebuilding the brand

If you’re of a sure age, likelihood are you recall the Ebony Style Fair displays of the late 20th century, extravaganzas replete with an all-Black forged of models carrying higher-finish styles from all over the entire world.

Even far more acquainted may possibly be the cosmetics line of the same title, which was often ubiquitous in the magnificence arsenals of so a lot of of our mothers and grandmothers, its goods encased in iconic pink marbled packaging.

The two were being the brainchild of the late Eunice Johnson, the matriarch of the Johnson Publishing empire and a manner and natural beauty aficionado who considered Black splendor deserved a system as huge as any other. Launching Style Honest cosmetics in 1973, the model rapidly cornered the current market on makeup for women of all ages of shade when other models could not be bothered to remotely take into consideration darker-skinned clientele.

So, it was anything of a tragedy that by the time Fenty Splendor disrupted the prolonged complacent elegance market with 40 shades of basis, Vogue Good was on its way out, owning faced decrease in a sector that had ultimately begun to diversify.

Enter two previous Ebony execs, Desiree Rogers and Cheryl Mayberry McKissack, with a eyesight to maintain the treasured legacy brand while bringing it to a new era of natural beauty enthusiasts. Acquiring the bankrupt firm at auction, they commenced to do exactly that with the aid of beauty retail powerhouse Sephora—and a beloved model was reborn.

Rogers and McKissack’s revival of Vogue Fair is chronicled in the new documentary The Beauty of Blackness, co-made by Sephora, Vox Media, Epic, and Digitas, and now streaming on HBO Max.

The elegance entrepreneurs—who also acquired and revitalized Black Opal—also sat down with theGrio to go over their journey with the iconic Black splendor brand, and what the future may well hold.

Observe our online video over to listen to how Rogers and McKissack rebuilt the manufacturer, and listen to more at a virtual city hall on The Splendor of Blackness on Monday, April 4, 6-7 pm ET. The on line celebration is open up to the public, and queries can be requested in advance RSVP at: bit.ly/BeautyOfBlackness.

Maiysha Kai is Life style Editor of theGrio, covering all factors Black and stunning. Her perform is knowledgeable by two decades’ knowledge in manner and amusement, a enjoy of great books and aesthetics, and the indomitable brilliance of Black tradition. She is also a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and editor of the YA anthology Physique (Text of Modify sequence).

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